Another slow start cost the Nashville Predators as they allowed the Toronto Maple Leafs to take a 3-0 lead into the 1st intermission. 16,501 cheered as the Preds tied the game midway thru the 3rd period, but almost-Pred Phil Kessel quieted the Sommet Center with his game winning goal that gave the Leafs a 4-3 win.
Felder’s FRUSTRATED Five:
1. Break Up The Band For Goodness Sake - I am of course talking about the Hamhuis and Klein pairing. Why they continue to be put together is beyond my reasoning. Now, I won't claim one D-man is pulling down the other because they both have their off moments. The thing that boggles me is why Preds head coach Barry Trotz continues to pair them together after that 1st goal. Were they good in Calgary? Sure, the whole team pretty much was, but the track record speaks for itself on this one. They turn the puck over, give up odd man rushes, and generally get beat by opponents. Don't get me wrong, both guys have an immense amount of talent and I think they can both be very effective, but not together. That has to stop. Hammer and Kleiner both finished -3.
2. Where Did the Home ADVANTAGE Go? - This season has been a complete role reversal for the Preds. Generally, they are outstanding at home and struggle somewhat on the road. This season, they have a serious problem. Something is not right with the starts this team tends to have at home. There really seems to be no real explanation. When the Preds sleep thru the 1st period, they really do themselves a disservice and create one heck of an uphill climb for themselves. Looking ahead, they have to clean this up by March if they expect to be in the playoffs (which they should).
3. Giveaway The Game - I've talked about it so much that I always hesitate to put it in my Five, yet it almost always stands out. 16 total giveaways on the night. You know the rest of that story.
4. TOI - There are some nights I just don't understand why some players don't get more TOI. Tonight that honor belonged to Ryan Jones and Nick Spaling. They had 7:48 and 7:37 of TOI respectively. Now, Jones had a goal in which Spaling assisted that tied the game up. Within their limited time, Jones had 2 shots on goal as did Spaling. In a game in which you are down three after the 1st period you would want guys getting SOG and crashing the net out. Yet, Dumont had 15:31 with 0 SOG and just 1 attempted. Legwand had 1 SOG and that was the only one he attempted. I don't claim to be a coach by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes I would really love to know why certain guys that are creating don't get more opportunities.
5. A Little More Blocking If You Please - One of the differences in the stats that jumped out at me after the game was the blocked shot differential. Toronto blocked 17 Nashville shots. The Preds blocked just 5. Now, I'm not sure much could have been done to stop the first three Toronto goals, but that Kessel one? Well, it would have been nice to see that one blocked since two Predators were lined up in front of Ellis to block his view, but not the puck. I know it is difficult to stop those kind of shots, but to me it appeared Phil caught some Preds standing and watching and he took advantage.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Andreas Thuresson and Alexander Sulzer. Jordin Tootoo remains on IR for just a bit longer. For the Maple Leafs, Jeff Finger, Mike Komisarek, and Rickard Wallin found themselves on the scratch list. Wayne Primeau and Mikhail Grabovski are listed on the Toronto IR.
* 1ST PERIOD
* GOAL for TORONTO - 17:58 to go. Here is one of those routine saves you never expect to go in. David Legwand gets pick pocketed going up the ice in the Preds end. Niklas Hagman knocks the puck away from Legwand's stick, Alex Ponikarovsky quickly backhands the loose puck back towards Hagman before it goes out of the zone. A very nice pass that should not go unnoticed. Hagman dashes towards the corner but before he reaches it he fires off a wrister low in the faceoff circle to Rinne's stick side. Peks appeared to have the play under control for a routine glove save, but somehow the puck slipped through the pads and trickled in. What's odd about this goes is that Rinne was flush against the post stick side. Having seen the replay, I'm still not entirely sure where it snuck in but I can only guess it was in between the small space above the leg pad and just under the blocker. From there it must have deflected down off the stick and in. Hagman (17) from Ponikarovsky (15). Leafs take a 1-0 lead in Nashville.
* GOAL for TORONTO - 14:48 to go. This was a stellar effort play for Ponikarovsky. Erat turns the puck over at the blueline just inside the Toronto zone. Poni and Marty battle for the puck a bit in the neutral zone, with Alex out-muscling Marty and striding down the ice. Pure speed effort as Poni then drives to the net from the low stick side circle. As he sweeps across the crease he puts a shot on goal low stick side. Rinne's pad makes the stop, but the puck bounces up off the pad and into the backside of Ponikarovsky. Then the puck arcs up and over Pekka's glove side and falls right into the goal. Hard work by Ponikarovsky rewarded right there with his 16th goal of the season that goes unassisted. Toronto shocks the crowd as they take an early 1st period 2-0 lead. The Preds elected to use their timeout of the game at this point.
* GOAL for TORONTO - 11:00 to go. The Leafs split the Preds D with a pass right up the center of the ice. Tomas Kaberle makes a perfect pass that sends Matt Stajan on a breakaway after slipping between the Hamhuis-Klein pairing. Stajan drives the right slot and gets Rinne to drop into his butterfly just as he lets off a low stick side backhander that gives the netting a quick puff as the puck goes in and out. At this point, Rinne is pulled in favor of Dan Ellis. I would have to say the contributing factors to this goal had to be the D pairing not being aware during a forward line change and Rinne's confidence already being shaken early. All in all, the Leafs have come to Nashville playing their own tune thus far and have not allowed the Preds to play their style whatsoever. Stajan (14) from Kaberle (36) and Luke Schenn (7). Toronto's lead is now quite the hill at 3-0.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 0 TOR: 3 Positives - The PK looked really good at the end of the period. Winning 53% of faceoffs. Negatives - Poor night of goaltending from Rinne. 9 giveaways in the 1st period. Out shot 11-8.
* 2ND PERIOD
* 12:55 to go and Danny Ellis shows some smart stuff. A shot glances across the front of Ellis and rebounds right to Lee Stempniak's stick on the back door glove side. Even thought Ellis is sprawled on his stomach, he reaches up and gloves what appeared to be a sure-fire goal down. Just a gorgeous save that shows Dan is still feeling the groove he had in Calgary.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 2:22 to go. He Goc ya' again. Marcel crashes the net and deposits the puck high glove side after Francois Beauchemin couldn't control the puck in the crease. J.P. Dumont was involved in the scramble as well and helped prevent the puck from exiting the Toronto crease before Nashville finally broke through on Jonas Gustavsson. Goc (10) from Dumont (23) and Cody Franson (10). The Leafs lead is cut down to 3-1.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 1 TOR: 3 Positives - Finally put one past the "Monster". Out shot the Leafs 9-6 that period. Negatives - Still taking quite a bit to get through the neutral zone with speed. Slept thru the 1st period which makes the last half of the game a real uphill battle.
* 3RD PERIOD
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 15:39 to go. The Preds start the period with a surge and cash in on a beautiful slap shot by Cody Franson that finds the twine stick side on Gustavsson. Nice play by Steve Sullivan to take the puck away along the boards and then find Franson pinching in from the right point. Franson (4) from Sullivan (21). The Leaf lead is now only 3-2. The Leafs also took their timeout at this point.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 13:41 to go. The comeback is complete as a bouncing puck slips under Gustavsson. Nick Spaling shot the puck from the left point, the puck took an upward tip off of Carl Gunnarsson's stick, and then Ryan Jones deflected the puck back down and in on the unprotected glove side. A tip thru traffic that Gustavsson had no chance on. Jones (7) from Spaling (2) and Ryan Suter (21). We are tied at 3 almost midway thru the 3rd period. Two goals in just a second under two minutes certainly turns the momentum.
* 11:27 to go and thru the TV timeout the fans bring back the standing O. It's been awhile since that has occurred and the players certainly earned this one.
* GOAL for TORONTO - 5:48 to go. Dan Hamhuis gets wiped out by Nikolai Kulemin as the Leafs break into the Nashville zone. The opens up some space for Phil Kessel to cruise into the slot and fire off a wrister. The puck is shot low along the ice and beats Dan Ellis' five-hole for the go-ahead goal. Brutal to see for Pred fans considering the off-season circumstances with Kessel and his possible trade to Nashville. Kessel (15) from Kulemin (9) and Tyler Bozak (4). Toronto takes a late 4-3 lead.
* 2:31 left and Kevin Klein heads to the box for tripping. He took out Jason Blake with a knee on knee hit as Blake went from right to left in between the faceoff circle. Blake did skate to the bench under his own power after initially being on the ice prone for a few moments. The replay seemed to show the contact was incidental, but certainly a penalty. Poor timing for sure to give up just the 3rd Leaf PP of the night.
* :20 seconds to go an Ellis gets to the bench for the extra attacker.
3. Ellis - 13 saves on 14 shots against in relief. Kept Toronto from running away with the game.
Goalie Grades:F/A- – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. Dan Ellis did pitch a shutout in Calgary this past Friday, but head coach Barry Trotz decided to break the "shutout rule". That is a very rare thing and he must truly feel alternating the goaltenders is working. The plan seemed to backfire tonight as Rinne was yanked after 9 minutes of playing time in the 1st period. He gave up 3 goals on 8 shots against and finished the night with a 20.00 GAA and .625 save percentage. The 1st and 3rd goals against were just awful and Peks felt pretty bad about it. Just an off night for him but boy was it really off. Ellis came in and played some grand hockey. The only problem is the only goal he let in was towards the end of the game. That one was not fault of his own as Kessel timed his shot perfectly for when two Preds lined up in front of Danny's eyesight and blocked his view of the shot. Dan finished the night with 13 saves on 14 shots against and truly gave the Preds a chance to win this one. He earned a 1.18 GAA and .929 SV % but was saddled with the loss.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "Pekka this appeared to be one of those games where one goal goes in and the momentum was hard to stop."
Pekka Rinne - "I don't know. It's just one of those things where I gave up a soft goals. It's tough. Personally, it's one of the toughest losses this year so far. The guys came back after a 3-0 game, showed a lot of character, and for myself that just makes me feel awful right now. I didn't do my part and it's a tough loss right now."
*
Felder - "Dan it wasn't expected for you to play tonight, but once you got in you continued your solid play from the Calgary game. Just a tough final five minutes there."
Dan Ellis - "Yeah. The game was going really well and we had developed a lot of momentum. I just watched the goal and right as he (Kessel) is releasing the puck we got two guys simultaneously right in front of it, but I didn't see it at all. I saw it at the last second once it cleared the second player and you just try to push into it and it found the only hole that was there."
*
Felder - "Jerred how did things feel for you personally in your return from injury?"
Jerred Smithson - "I felt a little behind there in the 1st period. On the first two shifts I just tried to keep it real simple. Just getting back into the game is different than practicing and bag skating. Once I got those first few shifts underneath me and got used to the pace and everything I felt fine. I was battling the puck a little bit but skating wise I felt fine out there. It was good to get back but it was frustrating that we didn't come out with a lot of jump in the 1st period. We played awesome in the 3rd and decent in the 2nd. It's the story of our year so far, just slow starts for some reason."
Felder - "Do you guys talk about the slow starts a lot, especially considering March is going to be really critical with all those home games."
Smithson - "Yea, oh yea. We talk about it every night. I wish I had an answer for you but I don't know why we come out that way. We get behind three goals and teams are too good to spot them two or three goals right off the bat. We gotta do something like ASAP, next home game we got to be better. You want to win your home games and be .500 on the road. Our home record isn't where we want it to be."
*
Felder - "Traditionally you go with your "shutout rule". Why the switch for tonight's game?"
Barry Trotz - "We don't have a shutout rule this year."
Final Thoughts:
Whatever the mystery is to the Preds poor starts at home must be solved soon. It's obvious from Smithers comments that the team is aware of it, talks about it, and has attempted to fix it. That said, it is very surprising to see this team struggle so much at home considering the past 3 seasons record in the Sommet. Tonight was yet another example of a poor start costing you. Credit goes to the Leafs for jumping out early, hanging on, and then getting the goal that counts the most at the end of the game… the game winner.
The Predators next game is this Thursday night in Phoenix. An 8 pm faceoff versus the Yotes who have a very similar record to the Preds. This game could more interesting than you may think at first glance. It will be on FS-TN so don't miss out on what is sure to be an interesting road test for the Preds.
Till the next time, take care.
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